


Flesh & Blood

by MercySewerPyro



Series: A Thousand Painted Teeth [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boba has to learn Clones are people, Fix-It, Force-Sensitive Clones (Star Wars), Gen, Mental Link, Rated T for Turboslut, Sibling Bonding, Trans Character, reluctant sibling bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercySewerPyro/pseuds/MercySewerPyro
Summary: In the Mandalorian tradition, family is always more than blood: it's the bonds you make, not the genetic material you share. But for the clones, there's always been something different about their interpretation; bonds are built, but a true vod is always going to share your face.So when Boba Fett appears, bent on revenge, there's only one thing the clones can think to do. They need to keep their littlest brother safe, no matter the rift between them.
Series: A Thousand Painted Teeth [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728298
Comments: 11
Kudos: 104





	Flesh & Blood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kyzyner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyzyner/gifts).



_ ‘...You can’t be serious.’ _

_ ‘I’m  _ completely _ serious; it’s the best option, vod’alor. And you kriffing know it.’ _

_ ‘But the _ Penal Battalion?’

_ ‘They have _ no  _ Jedi oversight, and because they’re all the bastards nobody wants to deal with them for more than five seconds. They’re perfect candidates!’ _

_ ‘Force. You know, they still haven’t given me back Turbo.’ _

_ ‘Wait, what did Turbo do?’ _

_ ‘We were escorting a Senator. You have three guesses as to what he did, and the first two don’t count.’ _

_ ‘Ouch. But they won’t give him back?’ _

_ ‘Nope. Our bastard of an ori’vod has decided he’s hers. You know she also likes to threaten that she's going to abduct Hardcase just because of the chaos he leaves in his wake, right?’ _

_ ‘Oh Force. Please don’t let her take him.’ _

_ ‘Getting off topic, you two. You know damn well that it’ll have the least jetii interference, they’ll have the most scope to protect him, and they all know a thing or two about letting old grudges go. Didn’t your Lieutenant Slick serve with them for a time, Rex? I’m sure he can vouch for them and their Commander.’ _

_ ‘Just for a couple months, but yes, that was before Denal got him to the 501st. ...Are you sure, Wolffe?’ _

_ ‘Sure as I’ll ever be. I trust Wildcat. She’s one of the best in the entire goddamn Grand Army, even if she’s rough around the edges. Takes balls of steel to do what she did on Kamino and  _ not _ get reconditioned for it.’ _

_ ‘So, rougher than you?’ _

_ ‘Fuck off.’ _

_ ‘Okay. I’ll give the go ahead, just make sure she’s careful. Let her know we’re sending her our troublesome vod’ika.’ _

* * *

It began on the ship known as the  _ Endurance, _ but the roots of it stemmed back to Geonosis, and the bloodbath that had further stained its red sands.

No, that wasn’t quite correct. In reality, it had started long before even then, all the way back to Kamino and its sterile halls. The vode may have been bound by the link that sang between them, but it wasn’t without its flaws, without its cracks in the system; it wasn’t unheard of for troopers to initially fall through, only to be recovered later. But the clones did what they had always done: they looked out for each other with fierce loyalty, and in that even those that had briefly fallen out of reach were brought into the fold. As always, their strength was in numbers, a pack with teeth not yet blooded. It was unspoken law. No sibling left behind. Death may take them from each other, may rip brother from brother no matter how hard they fought for their survival, but nothing could break the bonds of two hundred thousand bred together to die.

But not all clones were created equal, and not all siblings were truly siblings. Never was that more true with Boba Fett.

It was no wonder he had been forgotten in the chaos of Genosis; the vode had never particularly cared for Jango’s heir, a child so unlike them they may as well have never been from the same template at all. How could they have broached that ever present wall between them, when his buir had been a constant presence, when Boba was granted all the rights, all of the  _ life, _ that they were deprived of? Every interaction had become either the young Fett’s frustration vented on troopers, or the Nulls’ furious retaliation, and every act only furthered the divide. What could have ever crossed that yawning canyon that separated them?

Two hundred thousand had been born with a leash on their throats, loyalty in their bones, while Boba Fett strode free and proud. His father’s son, a Mandalorian through and through, while the clones were left scrabbling for the scraps.

But Geonosis had changed everything. Jango Fett, Jedi Killer, had fallen to a jetti’s purple blade, his head left in the sand. And his son, the child who had seemed to have everything, vanished into the wind.

There was barely even time for the clones to mourn him, even if they still cursed his name in equal measure. He had been no father to most of them, and a mere spectre of one to the Alphas, and yet those slivers of heritage that they had pulled from him were the most precious thing the clones had ever received. Jango had abandoned them to die a thousand ungraceful deaths. But he’d taught them how to fight another day, too.

He had taught Boba the same.

And so the heir had returned. Wreathed in fire and fury and the drive to enact revenge on the one who had killed the only person he’d ever had, Boba proved that he and his two hundred thousand siblings were not so different. There was no pack, no thousand siblings-in-arms at his back- But when what was theirs was harmed, when blood cried out for blood?

There was no stopping them from repaying that debt.

* * *

It had all started out so  _ well. _

Aurra had told him all that he needed to do was get in, pretend to be one of the cadets, and then set a trap for Windu. In and out, just use everything his buir had taught him. Nobody suspected he would be around, anyway; there hadn’t been anybody looking for him, and the clones were probably all too dumb to notice anything out of place. He just had to play it cool, and it’d be easy.

Yeah,  _ right. _

Sneaking into the group of cadets had been fine. The cadets had been… Really nice, and they’d asked him a couple weird questions - “Did you not have a squad before this?” - which he’d had to bullshit answers for, but they’d taken it all hook, line, and sinker. Yeah, he’d gotten weird looks for showing off, and for some reason  _ concerned _ looks when he snuck off to get a call back to Aurra, but they’d just been… Nice to him. They hadn’t suspected a thing.

...Except, apparently they had. The trap had been set, Mace Windu right outside the door, but… A clone trooper in scuffed white - no shiny, but also not sporting anything painted - had jogged up and told the jetii somebody needed him at the bridge, giving a weirdly evasive answer when the General asked why they hadn’t just commed him. He’d reassured Windu that he’d put his things away in his room, and then the target had  _ left. _ Boba had grit his teeth, already anticipating the clone stepping through, getting blown to smithereens instead of the kriffing Jedi- But the clone had waited until Windu was out of sight before cautiously opening the door, leaning down… And disarming the bomb.

A thrill of alarm had gone through Boba at the sight. They  _ knew. _ Somehow,  _ the clone knew. _ But- This trooper hadn’t told the Jedi anything, and he didn’t comm anybody as he calmly straightened back up. He merely examined the device in their hands, humming a soft, “Clever,” to themselves, before pocketing it and heading on their way. Just like that, with no fanfare or mis-triggered bomb, Boba’s plans were thwarted.

And yet, Windu was still completely unaware there was danger aboard his ship. What the kriff had just happened?

Of course, there had been only one thing he could think to do next.

“...Aurra?”

“What? Have you completed the mission yet?”

“...No. They disarmed the bomb-”

_ “What!?” _

“But Windu doesn’t know! I think.” He took a deep breath. “A clone knew it was there, and he disarmed it. But he didn’t tell Windu about it, and he didn’t comm anybody. What do I do now?”

There had been silence, but then, “Then you better move quickly, before those little toy soldiers decide to tell! You have to take out the main reactor before they get on the ball.”

“What? But that’ll crash the ship-”

_ “Exactly. _ Boba, do you want this man dead or not? Your father is counting on you.”

He’d hesitated, the images of the cadets drifting through his mind even as words spilled out of his mouth. “...Yeah. Yeah I do. Don’t worry; I’ll get it done.” He’d shut it off, and then and there it had been easy to drown any misgivings in the memory of Geonosis.

It’d be easy. A change of plan, but still the same method: in and out, taking an escape pod to make his retreat. He knew how the controls of various reactors worked, so how hard could it be?

He’d been a  _ di’kut _ to think that. Entering the reactor room had been no trouble; he blended in where it was necessary, and snuck around when he had to, but nobody seemed to give a second thought to a cadet who looked like he was on a mission. It would only be later that he’d realize the clones had been  _ purposefully _ ignoring him, letting him think he was in control. But when he got inside, approached the controls, the trooper that approached him from behind seemed to be just another in the standard white. He’d even asked him, at first, if Boba was lost- An assumption that he was just another cadet.

Except, as the trooper kept talking, it turned out he assumed nothing at all. “I mean, I think you’re pretty lost to be here, Boba Fett. But I think you and me both know what you’re after.”

Boba had frozen up. He was  _ found out after all, _ at the mercy of this trooper even as he slowly turned around. The trooper had pulled a pistol - clearly set on stun - from one holster… While the other held Boba’s bomb. This wasn’t just any clone in whites. This was the very same trooper who had saved Windu the  _ first time. _

“...How did you know it was me?”

“For all your training, there’s some things that you’re never going to be prepared for.” Boba can imagine the grin behind that helmet, the mouth full of a predator’s teeth- The teeth he doesn’t have. “Let’s just say you ran into one.”

“You’re going to turn me in?”

“Yes… And no.” There had been a calm tilt of the head. “Some of the other troopers have gone and quietly jammed every non-Republic frequency in and out of this cruiser. And if you try to run, they’ll know exactly where you are.”

Boba had shuddered. No back up, no way out; what had seemed like an easy path to revenge had suddenly become a dead end. How had they  _ known? _

“But we’re not going to turn you over to the Jedi, vod’ika.”

“What-?” Usually, he would have protested, snapped at the clone that they weren’t siblings. But instead, it’s the first part that blindsided him.

“Nope.” A heavy hand had gone around Boba’s shoulders, firm and resisting all his attempts to squirm away. A couple more clones filed in, a retinue that meant he was well and truly trapped. “We’re going to turn you over to the Wolfpack.”

* * *

_ ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe you’re letting us assholes take care of a child. Why hasn’t your General swooped in and adopted him yet?’ _

_ ‘Sinker and Comet are keeping him occupied. Barely. And I mean,  _ technically _ we’re the same age as him...’ _

_ ‘Fuck off, you know what I mean dumbass. Force. We’re going to be wrangling the fucking Mand’alor’s fucking heir. Is this part of Cody’s plan? Commander Bastard at it again?’ _

_ ‘You know I have no kriffing clue. He’s better at this long-term strategy shit than any of us.’ _

_ ‘Commander. Bastard. If we get Death Watch on our tail for this I’m shooting him myself. And you better kriffing tell him that he’s being a mysterious dickhole again. Actually I’ll tell him that right now-’ _

‘Please _ don’t. We’ll be turning up in a few cycles, so make sure you’re ready to receive the kid. Nobody poking around and all that osik.’ _

_ ‘Don’t worry Wolffe, I got this. We scared away the last attempted Glorious Overseer with a generous application of Turboslut. Kiddo will be fine.’ _

_ ‘....Wildcat, sometimes you and your Battalion concern me.’ _

**_‘Good.’_ **

**Author's Note:**

> This was NOT meant to have multiple chapters, but it's snowballed. I'm terrified.
> 
> Also, shoutout to [kyzyner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyzyner/pseuds/kyzyner) for letting me use their character Turbo(slut)! He's a chaotic boy and I love him so much; I hope you enjoy where I've put him. ;3


End file.
